The Efficacy of Translanguaging in Selected South African Mathematics and Science Intermediate Phase Classrooms

Authors

  • Shalom Nokuthula Ndhlovana Witwatersrand university, South Africa
  • Erasmos Charamba Witwatersrand university

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33394/jollt.v11i3.7904

Keywords:

translanguaging, multilingualism, Mathematics and science education, monolingualism, multiculturalism.

Abstract

The 2015 TIMSS and 2021 PIRLS results show the underachievement of our learners in reading comprehension, mathematics and science. Analysts of both assessments suggest the low performance is caused, chiefly, by the misalignment between learners’ home languages and the language of instruction. Even though today’s classrooms have become more and more culturally and linguistically diverse resulting in the majority of learners entering the classroom with a home language different from the language of instruction, the teaching of such learners still follows a monolingual trajectory.  This has resulted in a drop- in the number of primary school learners exhibiting basic mathematics and scientific literacy in South Africa. Through semi-systemic review, the current study sought to explore the role language plays in concept comprehension among learners as well as examining the efficacy of translanguaging in mathematics and science classrooms. Eight studies were reviewed and results suggest that proficiency in the language of instruction plays a crucial role in comprehension of scientific and mathematical concepts. The study also shows the efficacy of translanguaging in enhancing the academic performance of learners and recommends the use of translanguaging within multilingual contexts.

Author Biographies

Shalom Nokuthula Ndhlovana, Witwatersrand university

Shalom Ndhlovana is a recently qualified educator who majored in the intermediate phase and is currently an honours student at the University of the Witwatersrand. She is currently focusing on early literacy and language issues in the teaching and learning.

Erasmos Charamba, Witwatersrand university

Erasmos Charamba, having taught at primary, secondary and university levels, is currently a Lecturer in the Foundation Studies Division in the School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He writes and presents widely on issues of language education, early literacy,multilingualism, multiculturalism, science education, decolonisation and transformation.

References

Aldama, F. L., & O'Dwyer, T. (Eds.). (2020). Poets, Philosophers, Lovers: On the

Writings of Giannina Braschi. University of Pittsburgh Press.

Bezuidenhout, H. S. (2022). Associations between early numeracy and mathematics-

specific vocabulary. South African Journal of Childhood Education, 12(1), 1191.

Best, R., Floyd, R. G., & McNamara, D. S. (2004, April). Understanding the fourth-grade slump:

Comprehension difficulties as a function of reader aptitudes and text genre. In 85th

Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association.

Bonomi, M. (2020). Mi (s) Lengua (s): educational paths for Hispanic students within Italian

school. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 41(1), 45-58.

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in

psychology, 3(2), 77-101.

Carrim, A., & Nkomo, S. A. (2023). A Systematic Literature Review of the Feasibility of a

Translanguaging Pedagogy in the Foundation Phase. Journal of Languages and

Language Teaching, 11(2), 195-210.

Charamba, E. (2022). Bridging Discourses in Science Education Through Translanguaging

Amongst Sixth-Grade Students in the Free State Province. Journal of Educational

Studies, 21(3), 26-46.

Charamba, E., 2021, ‘From colonisation to self-colonisation: Efficacy of translanguaging as a

socially just decolonising pedagogy’, in F. Maringe (ed.), Higher Education in the melting

pot: Emerging discourses of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and decolonization

(Disruptions in Education Volume 1), pp. 111–124, AOSIS, Cape Town.

https://doi.org/10.4102/aosis.2021.BK305.07

Charamba, E. (2020). Organic Translanguaging in Science Classrooms: Perceptions of Pre-

service Primary School Teachers. e-BANGI, 17(7), 117-132.

Charamba, E. (2023). Translanguaging as bona fide practice in a multilingual South

African science classroom. International Review of Education, 1-20.

Charamba, E. (2020). Translanguaging: developing scientific scholarship in a multilingual

classroom. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 41(8), 655-672.

Charamba, E. (2020). Translanguaging in a multilingual class: a study of the relation

between students’ languages and epistemological access in science. International Journal

of Science Education, 42(11), 1779-1798.

Childs, M. (2016). Reflecting on translanguaging in multilingual classrooms: Harnessing the

power of poetry and photography. Educational Research for Social Change, 5(1), 22-40.

Chirinda, B., Kitchen, R., Castellón, L. B., & Matute, K. (2023). Teaching mathematics in post-

Apartheid South Africa: the perspectives of teachers of black students. Research in

Mathematics Education, 25(1), 105-123.

Council for Higher Education, 2015, Report on South African Higher Education, viewed 10 June

, from https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/aug/22/south-africa-

universities-racially-skewed.

Conteh, J. (2018). Translanguaging. ELT journal, 72(4), 445-447.

Department of Education 1997. Language in Education Policy, 14 July 1997.

http://education.pwv.gov.zalDeptinfo/Gfetigazet6n.html

Driouch, A. (2022). Translanguaging as an Inclusive Pedagogical Practice in Early Education

Classes. International Journal of Language and Literary Studies, 4(4), 76-96.

Garcia, O. (2009). Bilingual Education in the 21st Century: A Global.

García, O. (2009). Education, multilingualism and translanguaging in the 21st century. In Social

justice through multilingual education (pp. 140-158). Multilingual Matters.

Garca, O., & Wei, L. (2014). Translanguaging: Language. Bilingualism and education.

Grosjean, F. (2010). Bilingual. Harvard university press.

Hattingh, A., McKinney, C., Msimanga, A., Probyn, M., & Tyler, R. (2022). Translanguaging in

science education in South African classrooms: Challenging constraining ideologies for

science teacher education. In Translanguaging in Science Education (pp. 231-256). Cham:

Springer International Publishing.

Howie, S.J., Combrinck, C., Roux, K., Tshele, M., Mokoena, G.M., & McLeod Palane, N. (2017).

PIRLS LITERACY 2016: South African Highlights Report. Pretoria: Centre for

Evaluation and Assessment.

Iliescu Gheorghiu, C. (2022). Romanian migration reflected in recent Portuguese literature: the

Roma ethnicity as a case in point.

Iversen, J. Y. (2019). “Translanguaging†and the implications for the future teaching of English in

Norway. Nordic Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, 7(1).

Javadi, M., & Zarea, K. (2016). Understanding thematic analysis and its pitfall. Demo, 1(1),33-39.

Kganetso, L. M., Qiao, X., & Block, M. K. (2023). Adding the Tswana in Botswana: Writing

Culturally Sustaining Informational Texts. Early Childhood Education Journal, 51(2),

-286.

Makalela, L. (2022). Not Eleven Languages: Translanguaging and South African Multilingualism

in Concert (Vol. 107). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.

Makonye, J. P. (2019). The effect of translanguaging in teaching the Grade 6 topics of perimeter

and area in rural schools. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies,

(3), 221-231.

Maseko, P., 2014, ‘Multilingualism at work in South African Higher Education: From policy

to practice’, in L. Hibbert & C. Van der Walt (eds.), Multilingual universities in South

Africa: Reflecting society in higher education, pp. 11–23, Multilingual Matters, London.

McKinney, C. (2020). Decoloniality and language in education: Transgressing language

boundaries in South Africa. The Dynamics of Language and Inequality in Education:

Social and Symbolic Boundaries in the Global South, 115.

Mgijima, V. D. (2021). Advancing text prediction skills through translanguaging. Reading &

Writing, 12(1), 1-10.

Mgijima, V. D., & Makalela, L. (2021). Developing summary writing skills through

translanguaging. South African Journal of African Languages, 41(2), 196-206.

Mkhize, N., & Ndimande-Hlongwa, N. (2014). African languages, indigenous knowledge

systems (IKS), and the transformation of the humanities and social sciences in higher

education. Alternation, 21(2), 10-37.

Mostert, I., & Roberts, N. (2022). Diversity of mathematical expression: The language of

comparison in English and isiXhosa early grade mathematics texts. Research in

Mathematics Education, 24(1), 3-23.

Alexander, N. (2005). Language, class and power in post-apartheid South Africa. Harold Wolpe

Memorial Trust Open Dialogue Event.

Nhongo, R., & Tshotsho, B. P. (2019). Translanguaging as an instructional method in science and

mathematics education in English second language classroom contexts. The Independent

Journal of Teaching and Learning, 14(2), 57-71.

Omidire, M. F. (2019). Embracing multilingualism as a reality in classrooms: An introduction.

Multilingualism in the classroom: Teaching and learning in a challenging context. Cape

Town: Juta & Co.

Omidire, M. F., & Ayob, S. (2022). The utilisation of translanguaging for learning and teaching

in multilingual primary classrooms. Multilingua, 41(1), 105-129.

Planas, N. (2021). How specific can language as resource become for the teaching of algebraic

concepts?. ZDM–Mathematics Education, 53(2), 277-288.

Prilutskaya, M. (2021). Examining pedagogical translanguaging: A systematic review of

the literature. Languages, 6(4), 180.

Probyn, M. (2019). Pedagogical translanguaging and the construction of science knowledge in a

multilingual South African classroom: Challenging monoglossic/post-colonial

orthodoxies. Classroom Discourse, 10(3-4), 216-236.

Qureshi, M. A., & Aljanadbah, A. (2022). Translanguaging and reading comprehension

in a second language. International Multilingual Research Journal, 16(4), 247-

Reddy, V., Visser, M., Winnaar, L., Arends, F., Juan, A. L., Prinsloo, C., & Isdale, K. (2016).

TIMSS 2015: Highlights of mathematics and science achievement of grade 9 South

African learners.

Republic of South Africa (1996) Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. Pretoria:

Government Printer.

Reynolds, C. R., Altmann, R. A., & Allen, D. N. (2021). The problem of bias in

psychological assessment. In Mastering Modern Psychological Testing: Theory

and Methods (pp. 573-613). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Robertson, S. A., & Graven, M. (2020). Language as an including or excluding factor in

mathematics teaching and learning. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 32(1), 77-

Schoeman, J. C., Geertsema, S., le Roux, M., & Pottas, L. (2023). The Effect of Pedagogical

Translanguaging on Foundation Phase Classrooms in a South African Private School.

Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 1-18.

Sefotho, M. P. M. (2022). Ubuntu translanguaging as a systematic approach to language teaching

in multilingual classrooms in South Africa. Journal for Language Teaching, 56(1), 1-17.

South African Parliamentary Monitoring Report. (2017). TIMSS Maths/Science Report; Schools

Reopening; Vuwani Progress Report. Pretoria: Basic Education.

Spencer-Smith, G., & Hardman, J. (2022). Variation in Semiotic Mediation across Face-to-Face

and Computer-Based Secondary School Mathematics Lessons in a School in the Western

Cape Province of South Africa. Computers in the Schools, 39(1), 61-79.

Statistics SA. (2017). Census 2017 Census in Brief. Pretoria: Statistics SA

Stroupe, D., Moon, J., & Michaels, S. (2019). Introduction to special issue: Epistemic tools in

science education. Science Education, 103(4), 948-951.

Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines.

Journal of business research, 104, 333-339.

Vogel, S., & García, O. (2017). Translanguaging.

Wei, L. (2018). Translanguaging as a practical theory of language. Applied linguistics, 39(1), 9-

Zano, K., & Phatudi, N. (2019). Relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading

comprehension of South African EFAL high school learners. Per Linguam: a Journal of

Language Learning= Per Linguam: Tydskrif vir Taalaanleer, 35(3), 16-28.

Downloads

Published

2023-07-17

How to Cite

Ndhlovana, S. N., & Charamba, E. (2023). The Efficacy of Translanguaging in Selected South African Mathematics and Science Intermediate Phase Classrooms. Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, 11(3), 373–389. https://doi.org/10.33394/jollt.v11i3.7904

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 3 (2023)

Section

Articles

Citation Check

License

License and Publishing Agreement
In submitting the manuscript to the journal, the authors certify that:

  1. They are authorized by their co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
  2. The work described has not been formally published before, except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, thesis, or overlay journal.
  3. That it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere,
  4. That its publication has been approved by all the author(s) and by the responsible authorities – tacitly or explicitly – of the institutes where the work has been carried out.
  5. They secure the right to reproduce any material that has already been published or copyrighted elsewhere.
  6. They agree to the following license and publishing agreement.

Copyright
Authors who publish with JOLLT Journal of Languages and Language Teaching agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-SA 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. 
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.

Licensing for Data Publication

JOLLT Journal of Languages and Language Teaching uses a variety of waivers and licenses, that are specifically designed for and appropriate for the treatment of data:
Other data publishing licenses may be allowed as exceptions (subject to approval by the editor on a case-by-case basis) and should be justified with a written statement from the author, which will be published with the article.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.